TANKER SUNK OFF ITALY COULD FOUL RIVIERAN COAST

A blazing supertanker carrying a million barrels of oil sank off the Italian Riviera yesterday, threatening a pollution disaster in the Mediterranean. The ship, carrying 143,000 tons of thick Iranian crude, sank at 10:05 a.m. yesterday just off Arenzano, a small fishing port about 250 miles northwest of Rome.

Experts fighting to prevent what threatens to be the Mediterranean's worst oil spill had feared that further explosions would break up the tanker and pour a huge quantity of crude oil into the sea.